The Election Commission of India will hold a press conference to announce date of presidential election at 3 PM on Thursday. President Ram Nath Kovind’s tenure is set to end on July 24 and as per Article 62 of the Constitution, an election for the next president must be held before the completion of the incumbent’s term.
The presidential elections in 2017 were held on July 17, while the declaration of the winner was made three days later on July 20. A President in India is elected by the members of the electoral college comprising of elected members of both the houses — Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
The electoral college for the presidential election consists of the 776 MPs of the Lok Sabha (543) and Rajya Sabha (233), as well as MLAs of state Assemblies and the Union Territories of Delhi and Puducherry. The total votes are counted on the basis of their value, which varies from state to state, with an Uttar Pradesh MLA carrying the highest value followed by Maharashtra and West Bengal.
The recent Assembly elections, in which the BJP put up a spectacular performance in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa, have cemented the BJP’s edge in the presidential elections. However, ally JD(U)’s past remains much of a concern for the saffron party.
Adding to JD(U)’s record of going against the ‘coalition dharma’, the souring relation between the two NDA partners may have a bearing on the forthcoming presidential election. The Nitish Kumar-led party went against its coalition partners in the 2012 and 2017 presidential elections.
JD(U) was a part of NDA during the 2012 presidential election. NDA had supported PA Sangma’s candidature while UPA had fielded Pranab Mukherjee as its candidate. Going against NDA, JD(U) had voted in favour of Mukherjee who won the election.
In the 2017 presidential election, JD(U) was a part of UPA which had fielded former Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar as its candidate. On the other side, NDA’s candidate was incumbent President Ram Nath Kovind, who was the then Bihar governor. In a surprise move, JD(U) went with NDA and voted for Kovind, praising his tenure as the state governor.
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